Fantasy Six Nations 2020 Preview – England

Fantasy Rugby Geekon

With Saturday 1st February 2020 fast approaching, it’s time to delve a bit deeper into this year’s potential fantasy Six Nations stars. So over the next two weeks FRG is providing a quick preview of all the teams from a fantasy perspective. Today we look at England…

England

In a nutshell

Life is never dull when it comes to England Rugby, and 2019 was categorised by some huge highs (The RWC run to the Final including an incredible semi-final victory over New Zealand and a comprehensive dismantling of Australia in the Quarter-Finals, as well as sensational 32-20 victory against Ireland away at the Aviva Stadium in the Six Nations) and some bitter lows (A brutal loss at the hands of the Boks in the RWC Final, the 38-38 capitulation at home to Scotland having lead by 31 points after just 31 minutes and the convicing loss against Wales that ultimately out Wales on course for the Grand Slam).
 
2019 overall can still be considered a big success and on the back of a hugely successful World Cup campaign, England have been installed as Six Nations favourites. However, there are reasons to be cautious; England will now be in a period of transition being the beginning of a new 4-year cycle, some old faces will see their playing time drop, and in their place, some new faces will be called up, and this may take some time for these new player combinations to click. England have a fairly tough draw as well, starting with two away matches against France and Scotland respectively.
 
This all said, Engand have a tremendous depth of talent that can be called on, with many fresh new talents hungry to make a stamp on the international stage. If England can get through their first two matches unscathed then they should be able to use this momentum to push on to victory. They have one of the most lethal finishers in World Rugby in Jonny May and they have attacking threats all over the field; all the way from the likes of George, Cowan-Dickie, Sinckler and Genge in the front row, through to Billy Vunipola and Tom Curry in the Back Row, and all across a truly explosive back line. When England do click, they are a fantasy manager’s dream.

Current World Ranking

3rd (As of the 2nd December 2019)

Performance in the 2019 Six Nations

2nd

Odds on winning Six Nations 2020

8/13 (Favourites)

Six Nations History (Since start of Six Nations in 2000)

Winners x 6 (including 2 Grand Slams)

Most likely to make a fantasy impact

Jonny May (Outside Back – Leicester)

Key players to consider

Kyle Sinckler (Prop – Harlequins), Mako Vunipola (Prop – Saracens), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Hooker – Exeter Chiefs), Jamie George (Hooker – Saracens), Maro Itoje (Lock – Saracens), Billy Vunipola (Loose Forward – Saracens), Tom Curry (Loose Forward – Sale Sharks), Owen Farrell (Fly Half – Saracens), Henry Slade (Centre – Exeter Chiefs), Manu Tuilagi (Centre – Leicester Tigers), Jonny May (Outside Back – Leicester Tigers), Elliot Daly (Centre/Outside Back – Saracens), Jack Nowell (Outside Back – Exeter Chiefs)

Top Performers in 2019 Six Nations

  • Most Points: Owen Farrell (59 points)
  • Most Tries: Jonny May (6 tries)
  • Most Assists: Elliot Daly (3 assists)
  • Successful Kicks: Owen Farrell (23 successful kicks)
  • Most Metres Carried: Jonny May (284m carried)
  • Most Defenders Beaten: Jack Nowell (17 defenders beaten)
  • Most Clean Breaks: Henry Slade (12 clean breaks)
  • Most offloads: Elliot Daly and Billy Vunipola (5 offloads each)
  • Most Successful tackles: Tom Curry (86 tackles made)
  • Most Turnovers won: Tom Curry (5 turnovers won)
  • Most successful lineout takes (and stolen lineouts): George Kruis (17 lineouts won and 1 stolen lineout)
  • Players who played every minute of 2019 Campaign: Elliot Daly

Full squad

To be updated upon announcement

Likely Kickers

Successful kicks from England kickers since September 1st 2018…

Kits

 

England’s kit can be purchased here at Lovell Rugby (*Full disclosure, this is an affiliate link, so FRG will earn a small commission if kits are purchased through this link)

Full list of Matches

  • Round 1 – Sunday February 2nd, 3pm GMT – France v England – Stade De France
  • Round 2 – Saturday February 8th, 4:45pm GMT – Scotland v England – Murrayfield
  • Round 3 – Sunday February 23rd, 3pm GMT – England v Ireland – Twickenham
  • Round 4 – Saturday March 7th, 4:45pm GMT – England v Wales – Twickenham
  • Round 5 – Saturday March 14th, 4:45pm GMT – Italy v England – Stadio Olimpico

 

If you back your Fantasy Rugby skills to lead you to Fantasy Six Nations glory and win you some stash while you are at it, then join our public fantasy league on The Rugby Magazine fantasy game, where a signed paperback copy of the Fantasy Rugby Handbook and a Fantasy Rugby Geek Trucker Hat, will be on offer for the winner of the league. Join it here!

Fantasy Rugby Games for the 2020 Six Nations

A summary of the top games that you can play fantasy rugby for the 2020 Six Nations (some of these are currently unconfirmed so may not have 6 Nations games live)…

  • The Rugby Magazine – Stats rich salary cap style game – Check out our 2020 review here
  • PlayOn – Daily Fantasy for Rugby – Sign up today here to receive a free $22 entry with a first-time deposit – Check out our 2020 review here
  • ESPN – A classic and straightforward Six Nations fantasy game – Check out our 2020 review here
  • SuperBru – An old favourite with salary cap fantasy rugby among other games and sports – Check out our 2020 review here
  • The Irish Times – Salary cap game with a €3000 top prize – Check out our 2020 review here

Pre-tournament articles

In case you missed any of our other pre-Six Nations articles, make sure you check out the following to help guide your pre-tournament preparations…

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Get free tickets to The Rugby Show

The Rugby Show is a two-day gathering at the Ricoh Arena, home of Wasps, in July 2020. The Rugby Show already has a fantastic range of phenomenal speakers from across the professional game. The likes of Lawrence Dallaglio, Maggie Alphonsi, current England World Cup duo, Joe Marler and George Kruis and World Cup winner Sarah Hunter will be talking about their own experiences, about coping with injury, maintaining fitness, nutrition, providing demonstrations on how to improve your skills as a player and more. The line-up also includes recent MMA convert James Haskell, Premiership regulars Jimmy Gopperth and Tommy Taylor to name a few. Registration has now gone live and as an ambassador of the Rugby Show, Fantasy Rugby Geek is offering you FREE ENTRY to the event (which usually costs £15 for an adult ticket). Click this link https://the-rugby-show-2020.reg.buzz/fantasy-rugby-geek and enter the following code TRS20GRASSROOTS to book your FREE tickets now!

Looking for more Fantasy Rugby insight and Resources?

New for the 2019/20 season, we are proud to present the The Fantasy Rugby Handbook. An exhaustive collection of wisdom and experience gained from over a decade of fantasy rugby playing. Primarily aimed at less experienced players but with enough nuggets of wisdom and insight for even the most grizzled fantasy rugby veteran. There is something here for all players. The eBook is available to download now for just £3.99 on Gumroad as a PDF and on Amazon in Kindle format (Free on Kindle Unlimited) – check it out!

If you want some more sources to help you finalise your decisions, go to our resources page where you’ll find all the 2020 Six Nations fantasy games, all the stats sources, injury news, team news, fantasy relevant rugby betting odds and tons of other useful information.

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